A Thunkable alternative: Expo apps written from a brief

Where Thunkable is better

• Hands on screen design

  Thunkable lets you place and arrange every component yourself. OneCraft has no visual editor; you ask for changes in chat and the agent edits the code.

• Instant phone testing

  Thunkable offers live testing on your phone while you build. A OneCraft app is previewed in phone and tablet frames in the browser, and a real device test needs an Expo test build on a paid plan.

• Education plans

  Thunkable has discounted plans for students, teachers and districts, and a company plan for teams. OneCraft has no education pricing.

Where OneCraft is different

• A whole app from one brief

  The agent plans the screens and 3 to 5 tabs, writes a foundation, builds the rest in steps and reviews screenshots of each tab at phone and tablet widths before it calls the app done.

• The code is yours to keep

  Every app is an Expo project in its own repository. You can download it as a zip with app.json filled, so the app does not stop existing if you stop paying for the builder.

• Business features with access rules

  Bookings, classes, memberships, orders and more come from 65 capability guides, built into the app's own Supabase database with row level security on every table.

Two ways to make an app

Thunkable is a canvas: you drag components onto screens, set their properties and wire up behaviour without code. That suits people who know exactly what each screen should look like. OneCraft starts from a written brief, such as a gym that wants a timetable, bookings and a members area. The agent turns that into a plan of screens and tabs, then writes the app as TypeScript with Expo Router. You change it by asking, for example to add a waitlist to full classes, and every change is built before it is kept.

What happens to a live app

Thunkable's pricing page says published apps become unavailable to end users if the subscription expires, outside its Pro and Business plans. On OneCraft the app is code you can download at any time, and store builds run through Expo with your own Apple key for iPhone. The store listing lives in your own App Store and Google Play accounts, so the app is not tied to the builder's plan once it is submitted.

Counting the cost

Thunkable's Builder plan is $37 a month billed yearly for one live published app. OneCraft's Starter plan is $8 a month with 500 credits; a measured whole app generation used 55 to 72 credits, and each Expo test or store build adds 5 credits. Apple's developer programme costs 99 USD a year and Google Play 25 USD once on either route.

Who should stay with Thunkable

Stay with Thunkable if you enjoy designing screens by hand, want to test on your phone without paying for builds, or teach app making in a classroom. Move if you want a business app written for you in React Native with Expo, a database that is yours, and code you can hand to a developer later.

Questions people ask